Peoplesoft's loss is SAP's gain

FRANKFURT: SAP, the world's biggest maker of business software, hopes to gain client contacts by hiring employees made redundant through Oracle's merger with PeopleSoft, an SAP board member said.

Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest software company, recently closed on its $10.3 billion acquisition of PeopleSoft and announced plans to cut about 5,000 staff, mostly from PeopleSoft, with many of the cuts coming from outside the United States.

SAP sales chief, Leo Apotheker said in an interview with Germany's Euro am Sonntag newspaper that many PeopleSoft employees had fought tooth and nail against the takeover.

"The best of them are leaving now and taking their client contacts with them," Apotheker said, adding that PeopleSoft's human capital were "voting with their feet."

"How many job applications do you think we are getting at the moment? This is going to be a very expensive takeover for Oracle," he said.

SAP has already announced plans to hire 3,000 staff for sales push aimed at lifting licensing revenue by 10-12 percent.

Though this could put pressure on margins, SAP sees an opportunity to snatch market share in the coming year from arch-rival Oracle, betting customers may want to switch if the Silicon Valley database leader has trouble digesting PeopleSoft.

Apotheker said he expected to gain market share in the United States this year and predicted double-digit growth.

"Market researchers expect the U.S. market to grow by five to 10 percent, and we want to grow faster than the overall market."